After helping Ridgewood win its Bergen County girls basketball tournament opener on Saturday, junior guard Madison Philips came back with a six-point game at Northern Highlands on Tuesday.

The Ridgewood High School forward scored a career-high 15 points in the Maroons’ Bergen County girls basketball tournament opener at home against Mahwah last Saturday. RHS, the No. 11 seed, emerged with a 54-48 victory in overtime after the No. 22 Thunderbirds had tied it at the end of regulation.

Ridgewood led, 44-41, with five seconds remaining, but Mahwah junior Deanna Burbridge sank her only three-point attempt of the game to beat the fourth-quarter buzzer and force the extra session.

"They really had the mo-mentum going into overtime," Iannone said when asked about the contest on Tuesday. "So we had to work extra hard to make sure that we could get the momentum back for ourselves. And, I think we won the overtime, 10-4, so we really stepped up our game at that point."

The Maroons’ reward is a date with No. 6 Paramus Catholic in tomorrow’s Round of 16. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. at Pascack Valley, and the winner of that game will advance to meet the winner of the 2:30 p.m. game between No. 14 Pascack Hills and No. 3 Teaneck.

RHS and Mahwah faced off in the county’s opening round for the second time in four seasons. The Maroons also won the 2011 matchup at home, 57-39, with a bit less drama.

"[Saturday’s game] was our first overtime of the season," Ridgewood head coach Meaghan Palmer said. "And, I wouldn’t say this is the youngest team I’ve ever had, but it’s a lot of new kids who hadn’t gone through overtime. So I was just trying to keep them calm."

Mahwah, meanwhile, came in fresh off a 48-46 OT victory against Pascack Hills two days before. Leading scorer Casey Doran had 18 points versus the Maroons but was the only Thunderbird to score in double figures.

"What I thought was great was that four of our players had double digits," Iannone noted. "And when you have that balanced scoring, that’s when you know your team is all working together."

Senior guard Emma Cichocki poured in a season-best 12 points, and center Annie Reilly was a force on both ends with 11 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots. Both girls helped Ridgewood win the battle on the boards, which was an especially welcome sight given that second-leading rebounder Claire Smesko has been sidelined with a concussion since Jan. 18.

"I’m playing the ‘3’ [small forward] now, because we have Claire out," said Cichocki. "It’s definitely a different position, but if Annie and Jordan are boxing out, it’s easier to snag a rebound."

Point guard Maggie Eisenhardt added 13 points for the Maroons. Burbridge (eight points) and Doran had seven steals apiece but could not keep Mahwah from dropping to 6-5.

Ridgewood returned to action Tuesday at Big North Freedom Division rival Northern Highlands. The Maroons took a 24-20 second-quarter lead on a three-pointer by junior Madison Philips before the Highlanders went on a 10-0 run to close the first half.

With Reilly in foul trouble, RHS endured a seven-minute, 25-second field goal drought spanning the second and third quarters and never recovered. The Allendale side also got a huge performance from junior center Melissa Heath (24 points, 12 rebounds, three blocks) to prevail, 59-37.

The loss put the Maroons at 8-7 entering yesterday’s game with Hackensack, but if nothing else, it provided a similar type of challenge to the one they will face in Paramus Catholic (10-4), coached by longtime Ridgewood resident Al Roth.

"We learn much more by playing against teams like [Northern Highlands] than we do against the weaker opponents," Palmer said. "It gives us a gauge on where we are and what we need to improve on."